Dec
5
I’ve had the pleasure of living on the Monterey Peninsula for over 14 years. I was transplanted here from the Mid-West as part of a job transfer at the “very aware” age of 21. I figured what’s not to like…I’ll give it a year and if it doesn’t work I can always move back. Well, here we are 14+ years later and the Monterey Peninsula feels more like home than the Mid-West. However, that doesn’t mean I haven’t sniffed out other people and places with “Mid-Western values”. Take for example my neighborhood, Deer Flats Park in Monterey. You cannot get more suburban and neighborly than Deer Flats Park. This neighborhood could be anywhere in the Mid-West (without the snow and humid summers!). Not many people actually know of the neighborhood but those who do always say, “What a great place to live.”
We have the benefit of larger homes (2300-3300 sq. ft.) and lots (8,000+ sq. ft.) compared to most of the peninsula, in a decent price range (currently about $1.0M-$1.5M), yet we are in a quiet location just off Hwy. 1 so I can get from my house to downtown Carmel in 8 minutes without having to pay Carmel or Pebble Beach prices. And the best part of it is that we are in a sun belt so while other parts of the Monterey Peninsula may be socked in with fog it can be roasting in my back yard. When summer starts to arrive I am absolutely dying to get home and sit in my back yard by 3pm! And then the next best part is that there are deer runs and greenbelts throughout the neighborhood that create space and privacy from your neighbors. So behind our house is a 50+ foot deer run that separates us from our neighbors to the back. Plus everyone is so neighborly. My immediate neighbors to the right couldn’t be better suited for us. We have 3 dogs and they have 2 so they always watch our dogs when we go out of town and vice versa. In fact, before we closed escrow on the house the Seller had a champagne reception for us and invited the neighbors on the cul-de-sac to come over to meet us. What a wonderful way to become part of a great neighborhood and it’s been all that ever since!